scholarly journals Selective saturation of step-edges as a tool to control the growth of molecular fibres

Author(s):  
Maximilian Dreher ◽  
Gregor Witte

The formation of molecular fibres is often hampered by defects such as step edges, which act as nucleation sites. Here, we present a concept of how exposure of the support to oxygen or even air disables the formation of such defect-driven fibres.

Author(s):  
T. Marieb ◽  
J. C. Bravman ◽  
P. Flinn ◽  
D. Gardner ◽  
M. Madden

Electromigration and stress voiding have been active areas of research in the microelectronics industry for many years. While accelerated testing of these phenomena has been performed for the last 25 years[1-2], only recently has the introduction of high voltage scanning electron microscopy (HVSEM) made possible in situ testing of realistic, passivated, full thickness samples at high resolution.With a combination of in situ HVSEM and post-testing transmission electron microscopy (TEM) , electromigration void nucleation sites in both normal polycrystalline and near-bamboo pure Al were investigated. The effect of the microstructure of the lines on the void motion was also studied.The HVSEM used was a slightly modified JEOL 1200 EX II scanning TEM with a backscatter electron detector placed above the sample[3]. To observe electromigration in situ the sample was heated and the line had current supplied to it to accelerate the voiding process. After testing lines were prepared for TEM by employing the plan-view wedge technique [6].


Author(s):  
S. Wisutmethangoon ◽  
T. F. Kelly ◽  
J.E. Flinn

Vacancies are introduced into the crystal phase during quenching of rapid solidified materials. Cavity formation occurs because of the coalescence of the vacancies into a cluster. However, because of the high mobility of vacancies at high temperature, most of them will diffuse back into the liquid phase, and some will be lost to defects such as dislocations. Oxygen is known to stabilize cavities by decreasing the surface energy through a chemisorption process. These stabilized cavities, furthermore, act as effective nucleation sites for precipitates to form during aging. Four different types of powders with different oxygen contents were prepared by gas atomization processing. The atomized powders were then consolidated by hot extrusion at 900 °C with an extrusion ratio 10,5:1. After consolidation, specimens were heat treated at 1000 °C for 1 hr followed by water quenching. Finally, the specimens were aged at 600 °C for about 800 hrs. TEM samples were prepared from the gripends of tensile specimens of both unaged and aged alloys.


Author(s):  
E. Sukedai ◽  
M. Shimoda ◽  
A. Fujita ◽  
H. Nishizawa ◽  
H. Hashimoto

ω-phase particles formed in β-titanium alloys (bcc structure) act important roles to their mechanical properties such as ductility and hardness. About the ductility, fine ω-phase particles in β–titanium alloys improve the ductility, because ω-phase crystals becomes nucleation sites of α-phase and it is well known that (β+α) duplex alloys have higher ductility. In the present study, the formation sites and the formation mechanism of ω-phase crystals due to external stress and aging are investigated using the conventional and high resolution electron microscopy.A β-titanium alloy (Til5Mo5Zr) was supplied by Kobe Steel Co., and a single crystal was prepared by a zone refining method. Plates with {110} surface were cut from the crystal and were pressured hydrostatically, and stressed by rolling and tensile testing. Specimens for aging with tensile stress were also prepared from Ti20Mo polycrystals. TEM specimens from these specimens were prepared by a twin-jet electron-polishing machine. A JEM 4000EX electron microscope operated at 400k V was used for taking dark field and HREM images.


Author(s):  
M.B. Braunfeld ◽  
M. Moritz ◽  
B.M. Alberts ◽  
J.W. Sedat ◽  
D.A. Agard

In animal cells, the centrosome functions as the primary microtubule organizing center (MTOC). As such the centrosome plays a vital role in determining a cell's shape, migration, and perhaps most importantly, its division. Despite the obvious importance of this organelle little is known about centrosomal regulation, duplication, or how it nucleates microtubules. Furthermore, no high resolution model for centrosomal structure exists.We have used automated electron tomography, and reconstruction techniques in an attempt to better understand the complex nature of the centrosome. Additionally we hope to identify nucleation sites for microtubule growth.Centrosomes were isolated from early Drosophila embryos. Briefly, after large organelles and debris from homogenized embryos were pelleted, the resulting supernatant was separated on a sucrose velocity gradient. Fractions were collected and assayed for centrosome-mediated microtubule -nucleating activity by incubating with fluorescently-labeled tubulin subunits. The resulting microtubule asters were then spun onto coverslips and viewed by fluorescence microscopy.


Author(s):  
Scott Lordi

Vicinal Si (001) surfaces are interesting because they are good substrates for the growth of III-V semiconductors. Spots in RHEED patterns from vicinal surfaces are split due to scattering from ordered step arrays and this splitting can be used to determine the misorientation angle, using kinematic arguments. Kinematic theory is generally regarded to be inadequate for the calculation of RHEED intensities; however, only a few dynamical RHEED simulations have been attempted for vicinal surfaces. The multislice formulation of Cowley and Moodie with a recently developed edge patching method was used to calculate RHEED patterns from vicinal Si (001) surfaces. The calculated patterns are qualitatively similar to published experimental results and the positions of the split spots quantitatively agree with kinematic calculations.RHEED patterns were calculated for unreconstructed (bulk terminated) Si (001) surfaces misoriented towards [110] ,with an energy of 15 keV, at an incident angle of 36.63 mrad ([004] bragg condition), and a beam azimuth of [110] (perpendicular to the step edges) and the incident beam pointed down the step staircase.


Author(s):  
ASIF EQUBAL ◽  
Kan Tagami ◽  
Songi Han

In this paper, we report on an entirely novel way of improving the MAS-DNP efficiency by shaped μw pulse train irradiation for fast and broad-banded (FAB) saturation of the electron spin resonance. FAB-DNP achieved with Arbitrary Wave Generated shaped μw pulse trains facilitates effective and selective saturation of a defined fraction of the total electron spins, and provides superior control over the DNP efficiency under MAS. Experimental and quantum-mechanics based numerically simulated results together demonstrate that FAB-DNP significantly outperforms CW-DNP when the EPR-line of PAs is broadened by conformational distribution and exchange coupling. We demonstrate that the maximum benefit of FAB DNP is achieved when the electron spin-lattice relaxation is fast relative to the MAS frequency, i.e. at higher temperatures and/or when employing metals as PAs. Calculations predict that under short T<sub>1e </sub>conditions AWG-DNP can achieve as much as ~4-fold greater enhancement compared to CW-DNP.


Author(s):  
Daniel Cavasin ◽  
Abdullah Yassine

Abstract Bond pad metal corrosion was observed during assembly process characterization of a 0.13um Cu microprocessor device. The bond pad consisted of 12kÅ of Al-0.5%Cu atop 9kÅ of Cu, separated by a thin Ta diffusion barrier. The corrosion was first noted after the wafer dicing process. Analysis of the pad surface revealed pitting-type corrosion, consistent with published reports of classic galvanic cell reactions between Al2Cu (theta phase) particles and the surrounding Al pad metal. Analysis of the bond pads on samelot wafers which had not been diced showed higher-thanexpected incidence of hillock and pit hole defects on the Al surface. Statistically designed experiments were formulated to investigate the possibility that the observed pre-saw pad metal defects act as nucleation sites for galvanic corrosion during the sawing process. Analyses of the experimental samples were conducted using optical and scanning electron microscopy, along with focused ion beam deprocessing and energy dispersive X-ray. This paper explores the relationship between the presence of these pre-existing defects and the propensity for the bond pads to corrode during the dicing process, and reviews the conditions under which pit hole defects are formed during the final stages of the Cu-metallized wafer fabrication process. Indications are that strict control of wafer fab backend processes can reduce or eliminate the incidence of such defects, resulting in elimination of bond pad corrosion in the wafer dicing process.


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